There are so many great galleries and museums in London, but they can be very crowded during the day.

My father was a politician, and a very important politician, and one of the leaders of the Iraqi Democratic Party, who believed in progress.

My earliest memory of architecture, I was perhaps 6 or 7 years old, was of my aunt building a house in mosul in the north of iraq. The architect was a close friend of my father's and he used to come to our house with the drawings and models. I remember seeing the model in our living room and I think it triggered something, as I was completely intrigued by it.

I think about architecture all the time. That's the problem. But I've always been like that. I dream it sometimes.

I don't like the masculine style, jeans. I like issey miyake... and black dresses.

I have always appreciated those who dare to experiment with materials and proportions.

It was such a depressing time. I didn't look very depressed, maybe, but it was really dire. I made a conscious decision not to stop, but it could have gone the other way.